There have been almost 1,700 convictions for burglary recorded in Galway over the past four and half years – or almost exactly one every single day of the year over the past four and a half years.

That’s according to Galway West TD Noel Grealish, but he warned that the odds on getting caught would seem to have done little to stop the offenders.

That’s why he has demanded that the next Government must seriously tackle the issue of crime and the justice system in Ireland to prevent serial offenders committing crime after crime with little consequences.

And, he added, it must also take a serious look at the €76m a year bill for free legal aid – much of it being spent on the defence of career criminals – as well as the number of offences committed by people out on bail, and the increasing number of offenders simply ignoring and not paying fines imposed by the courts, he said.

“Since the start of this decade, we have had 1,644 burglary convictions in the courts for crimes committed in the Galway Garda Division.  That’s almost exactly one every single day of the year over the past four and a half years,” he said.

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